The next day arrived quickly.
Before noon, Xiao Lin arrived at the military camp he had been away from for six long years, just as agreed.
Mu Chen arrived almost at the same time.
Looking at the military camp before him, which carried an aura of slaughter, Xiao Lin did not show any discomfort. After all, having awakened his past life's wisdom did not mean the memories from before that awakening had vanished.
He had, after all, struggled and toiled in the army for over five years in his earlier days, following the great armies to the front lines and fighting wars against the militaries of neighboring countries. Therefore, the idea of him being unaccustomed to the military environment simply didn't exist.
"Brother Xiao, it seems that being away from the army for six years hasn't affected you at all?"
It sounded like a question, but Mu Chen spoke these words with great certainty.
"How could one forget military life so quickly? When do we set off?"
After gathering the troops, Xiao Lin turned and asked.
"How about now?"
"No problem!"
With that brief exchange, the two sides reached a tacit decision.
So, the two of them led an army of sixty thousand men, grandly rushing toward the front lines. Of course, because the Jia Ma Empire was currently at a disadvantage in the war against the Chu Yun Empire.
It wasn't just the troops led by these two; the Empire's Grand Marshal, Mo Ya, had actually mobilized troops from all over the country to the front lines. As for the strength of these troops, to be honest, they weren't exactly impressive.
The strength of most ordinary soldiers stayed around the first- to third-stage of Dou Zhi Qi, with a small portion able to break through to the fourth stage or higher. Once someone became a Dou Zhe, they were qualified to serve as a low-ranking officer, such as a Centurion.
A Dou Shi had the qualifications to become a Thousand-man Commander. As for a Da Dou Shi, they could already hold the rank of Lieutenant General. Above that, a Dou Ling was like Xiao Lin—a General capable of commanding tens of thousands of people.
A Dou Ling General like Xiao Lin was actually qualified to guard a specific region within the Jia Ma Empire. However, the Xiao clan's foundation was, after all, in the Imperial Capital of the Jia Ma Empire, so Xiao Lin had not chosen to station himself in a remote region.
Over the past six years, although Xiao Lin had not stepped foot into the army he originally commanded, with his return, the Lieutenant Generals in the army naturally still looked to him as their leader.
In a world like Battle Through the Heavens that possessed extraordinary power, as long as the high-end combat power of the Imperial Family could hold down the fort, there was actually no need to worry about the Generals below rebelling.
Because that would be utterly meaningless—it would be the equivalent of seeking death! Think about it, if Mu Chen rebelled, what use would those armies be once Jia Xingtian, a Dou Huang, arrived?
They would simply be suppressed by Jia Xingtian with a flip of his hand.
This was why Generals like Xiao Lin enjoyed so much freedom. Even if Yinter Mo Ya was the Empire's Grand Marshal and controlled the deployment of all armies, the Jia Ma Imperial Family could still firmly maintain control over the entire empire!
After all, the soldiers below also knew that following Yinter Mo Ya, a Dou Wang, to rebel against the Jia Ma Imperial Family—which possessed Dou Huang combat power—was undoubtedly like an old man hanging himself: they'd be tired of living!
Therefore, even if the Generals within the Jia Ma Empire, or even the Grand Marshal himself, harbored rebellious thoughts, the ordinary soldiers wouldn't be foolish enough to follow the rebellion.
The most likely outcome would be them reporting you directly. It was precisely because of this that within the many surrounding countries, including the Jia Ma Empire, the military became a place for the younger generation of clans to gain experience.
Just like Xiao Lin at this moment.
He had never been foolish enough to think of the soldiers under him as private property; that was the most idiotic idea possible. For Xiao Lin, he was currently just performing the duties of his office.
He would lead the soldiers into battle, and once the fighting was over, he would still be himself, and the soldiers would still be soldiers; nothing would change. So, as long as Xiao Lin still held the title of General, it didn't matter how long he had been away from the army.
If he wanted to, he could reclaim command of these troops at any time. As for the Lieutenant Generals below trying to turn him into a figurehead or something, that was even more of a pipe dream!
Was Xiao Lin's blade no longer sharp, or were his subordinates getting too cocky?
In this manner, after retaking control of the army, Xiao Lin and Mu Chen did not stop for a moment and rushed directly toward the border front lines.
Ultimately, it took only about three days for this army of tens of thousands to arrive at the border station, thousands of kilometers away from the Jia Ma Imperial Capital.
During this period, other armies also arrived at this station one after another.
By now, the Jia Ma Empire had amassed over seven hundred thousand troops in this border region, barely managing to block the Chu Yun Empire's fierce offensive.
Of course, along with the Jia Ma Empire's reinforcements, the Chu Yun Empire also had a continuous stream of manpower being replenished from their side. Thus, the largest campaign in nearly thirty years broke out between the Jia Ma Empire and the Chu Yun Empire!
Furthermore, this campaign showed signs of intensifying.
Even the other surrounding countries were starting to become restless, wanting to jump in and grab a piece of the pie. One could say that the Jia Ma Empire, being in a weak position, had its nerves stretched to the limit at this moment.
If this situation continued, the other surrounding countries would most likely come to kick them while they were down. To this end, the Jia Ma Imperial Family had even prepared for the war to escalate.
Before Xiao Lin and Mu Chen set off, within the Jia Ma Imperial Palace, Jia Xingtian—acting as the guardian of the Imperial Family—had already summoned the only two other Dou Wang experts of the Imperial Family, as well as dozens of Dou Ling experts, ready to have them join the war at any moment.
Now, everything depended on how the next clash between the Jia Ma Empire and the Chu Yun Empire would go. Once the Jia Ma Empire was still at a disadvantage, this group of Imperial experts, including Jia Xingtian himself, would have to rush to the battlefield at any moment.
For this reason, Jia Xingtian had already sent word to the Yun Lan Sect. If the Jia Ma Empire's front lines suffered a total collapse, even the Yun Lan Sect would have no choice but to take the field.
This was the current state of the Jia Ma Empire.
It was precisely within such a grim atmosphere that Xiao Lin and Mu Chen arrived at the front-line military camp. As soon as they arrived, they were invited into the commander's tent by Grand Marshal Mo Ya's adjutant.
Very quickly, under the guidance of this adjutant, Xiao Lin and Mu Chen met Grand Marshal Mo Ya. As the Grand Marshal of the Jia Ma Empire, Mo Ya was already over fifty, nearing sixty years old. His face had quite a few wrinkles, and his hair was stained with much gray.
As someone from the same generation as the Yun Lan Sect's Sect Leader Yun Shan, the Imperial Family guardian Jia Xingtian, and the Mittel Family's Hai Bodong, he looked much older than the other three.
However, this was normal.
One must know that the other three had already become Dou Huang, while he was still struggling within the Dou Wang realm. Perhaps it was precisely because of this psychological gap that Mo Ya had unknowingly developed different ideas.
Just like this war between the Jia Ma Empire and the Chu Yun Empire that should not have started in the first place...